Search the Community

I am currently trying to put on lean weight. i have tanata bathroom scales, i know they are not accurate but are supposed to be a good tool for monitering gains and losses in body fat. so my weight 8 weeks ago :178 at 12% body fat and my weight now :182 at 15% body fat my math :was 178/100 * 12% =21.36 pounds of fat :now 182/100 * 15% =27.3 pounds of body fat WTF? please help the thick guy over here its destroying my motivation

Hello everyone, I have read some excellent posts and threads on this forum but there is just so much information to get your head around, How does one generally go about creating a diet plan for fat loss without it negatively affecting your energy levels and muscles? Also one that is fast and cheap since I have very little time to no time to cook and prepare food, I work 9 hours a day even on weekends + I am doing 1 hour of Yoga every morning and 1-2 hours of Gymnastics or conditioning most evenings and while I've bulked up I cannot seem to shift the flub. My problem is everytime I try to diet or cut back I fall flat on my face for lack of energy. I'd like to find and stick to a diet where I can lose weight but still have energy and the muscle gains while training, I know that in general the worst thing you can do is combine fats and carbs/sugars, so cakes, biscuits and fries with mayo are the road to fatty land. My situation is a little unique since I had some severe unusual gastroinestinal problems for 3-4 years which left me bed ridden for one of those, it has left me with some dietary issues and paradoxically one of those was becoming overweight (although I've lost a lot so far), since I could only eat fats combined with carbs in that time, so ironically I was alright with junk food cakes etc. but a nice piece of fish or just straight rice was out of the question. Here are my issues: -I now digest very slowly and I have issues with bowel movements if it is low/no fat, a sandwich can take me 4 hours or more. Fast fatty food I can pass through quicker, ironically junk food like chocolates I can digest fast. So I have to plan meals at least 4 hours before training or exercise. -I have difficulty digesting protein, I cannot eat mushrooms or red meat for example, still cannot eat fish and cannot do whey protein or other powders. -When I do eat protein I cannot eat too much and I have to eat it with fat, so I'd be sick with just lean chicken or tuna for example but could do a fatty chicken kebab. -I require fat in my diet, so for example if I ate just rice or potatoes every day with no fat I'd be sick and would have poor bowel movements. -I am B12 deficient -I cannot eat too much dairy Given that a high protein/high acid diet makes me very sick I tried to go for an alkali diet and do vegetarianism and eventually veganism, but I fell flat on my face for lack of energy and also my bowel movements were terrible. I was basically eating yellow split mung beans (high in protein) and white rice with a little ghee so kitchari, supplemented with vegetables. However I did try numerous variations of grains and beans and I did it for 1 1/2 months but coudln't keep it up. I would so very much prefer to be a vegetarian for various reasons including being on a more alkaline diet. Last but not least, eating grains and/or potatoes makes me gain weight very fast, although ideally I would have wanted to eat a potato diet with vegetables. I have found liver to be my new friend and I actually crave it, makes sense with the B12 deficiency. Sorry for the length of this, would really like to find something cheap and fast that works and that I can stick with, lose fat while still enjoying muscle gains and energy.

Hi guys! So back in April 2013, I came to this message board for help. I was really stuck with my body composition. I was a stocky 203lb / 92kg, very active, followed a meticulous eating plan... But, I was still at 30% bodyfat and frustrated that my weight didn't move anywhere. I want to thank you guys for helping me out. I got so much amazing advice - learning that I was seriously overestimating the calories I needed, and that despite eating lots of raw veggies my vitamin/mineral intake wasn't great. I particularly want to thank the Slizzard - Josh Naterman - for suggesting I do some study in nutrition. That is exactly what I did. I found a flexbook called Fundamentals in Human Nutrition, released by Kansas State University and went through it very eagerly. After ten years of jumping from one fad diet to another, it was sooo good to finally get a good, solid grounding! The one thing I took away from the study was simple, but very powerful: get your RDAs, and nothing more. I put together a simple meal-plan that gave me the macros, vitamins and minerals I needed in as few calories as possible. I tracked everything I was doing using a great, free online food tracker called Cronometer. I started in May, and immediately began losing two pounds per week! Yesterday, at 167lb / 75kg I decided to stop eating for fat loss and start eating for muscle growth. Goodbye fasted training, hello anabolic window! The visual changes are also very cool to see, this is back when I asked for help compared to today: Still learning to smile for photos... In a store buying smaller clothes, shocked to see strange corrugations on my stomach. Now, I am following Naterman's Perfect Workout Nutrition 2013 plan. This involves eating two-thirds of my calories in a four-hour anabolic window, and the rest of the day eating raw, mineral-dense vegetables, a bit of fruit, and some lean proteins (tempeh). It has been a life-changing eight months, and I'm excited to explore what the next eight months will bring! (I'm going for beast-like strength gains.) Thanks again guys!

Perfect Workout Nutrition 2013 Please note that GymnasticBodies does not provide any endorsement (official or unofficial) to the contents; and that this is the presentation of my collected knowledge for the purpose of education. It does not represent medical advice and is not a prescription for nutrition. This is specifically for the time period from 30 minutes pre-workout to 4-24 hours post-workout, and is intended for healthy individuals. If you have diabetes, or any other medical condition, please consult with a Registered Dietician. Preferably one that is used to working with athletes. If you have questions, please ask them here: https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/9581-perfect-workout-nutrition-2013-questions-and-answers/ What you must know before you begin: This plan includes drinking a good bit of water. 1 Liter or Quart of Water + 400-600mg sodium (not potassium salt) mixed in. Too much water without sufficient salt is dangerous. 600mg of sodium is a level 1/4 tsp or ~1.25 mL. If you are not used to drinking a lot of water during your workouts, please refer to the second post for instructions on making the transition. Note: As great as this strategy is, it cannot make up for an entire day of crappy eating. What you eat outside of the workout timezone is, in many ways, even more important than what you do peri-workout. While this plan will always give you the best results for your given situation, your absolute best results will only occur when your every-day nutrition is also solid. That is your foundation. This is the fancy house that sits on the foundation, and if you put this on top of the dietary equivalent of quicksand then you should not expect to see the results you want. The precise plan: ~20-30 minutes pre-workout: 30g of whey protein + 10-16 oz (300-500ml) of water or milk. 10-20g Carbs (ideally vegetables or fruit from list, not juice/baked goods/fruit) Oil or butter to cook vegetables in (important fat) Acceptable Fruit List: Whole citrus fruits, small apples (not sweet), pitted fruits (peaches, nectarines, cherries, etc), most berries. Note 1: If you find other carb sources that work well for you, then obviously those are fine too. I simply find that these are the carb sources that give me the most consistently excellent results. Note 2: Some people simply can't make this work, due to scheduling issues. If you can't, you're going to need to experiment with whole food meals to find what works best for you. Daniel Burnham finds that eating a meal with fattier whole food protein (a hamburger or some sausage) and the amount of carbs (with plenty of veggies) he needs for time between the meal and the workout, about 1.5-2 hours before his workout, is his preferred strategy for the pre-workout meal, and he does not follow this particular 20-30 minute pre-workout bit. This does not work well for me, and I perform better with exactly what I have typed in this section. The rest of this post is pretty much identical for everyone, but this initial pre-workout feeding may not be best for all schedules. I personally plan my food so that I can always do this, because it works best for me. Do not dehydrate yourself but do not drink too much water. 5-10 minutes pre-workout mix: Carbs: This is assuming 2-3 minute rest periods and overall sets taking 30-60 seconds. 1) 30% of this right before the workout, drink rest during workout 2) For every 60g of carbs, drink 0.75 to 1 liter (or quart) of water Please refer to the Carb Table for the correct amount of carbohydrate consumption. Please note that these values are specifically for strength training. Read the Carb Table Here. Good Carbs for this: Well baked white potatoes Mashed potatoes Glucose powder Maltodextrin Anything that has a GI of 70-80 or higher. Protein: 10-20g of protein in the workout drink. There is to be no added fat in this drink. Keep in mind that this table is for strength training! That’s fairly intense work with 2-3 minute rests. If your rests are longer than that, you may want to reduce the carbohydrates a bit. For every additional minute of rest between sets, reduce the carbs by 5% for every minute of rest beyond 2 minutes. If you’re doing skill work, only consume half of the carbs Note 1: Make sure you get the protein into this pre-workout drink, as well as 400-600mg of sodium per Liter. (from table or sea salt, not a half potassium salt!) Note 2: It is totally OK to experiment with this. Your diet, and needs, will all vary somewhat from the norm, but the above table is a good starting point! It is also vital that you consume these carbs as a 6%-8% solution: Drink 750 mL(8%) to 1 Liter (6%) of water for every 60g carbs. During the workout: 80-100% of the remainder of the carbs that you did not have immediately pre-workout. Guidelines/Reminder for what needs to be in this drink: 400-600mg of sodium per Liter of water, or per quart. ~10g protein per Liter (or quart) of water Carbs mixed in or solid carbs such as mashed potatoes or white bread Water, salt, and protein must bemixed together. After the workout: PWO shake! Have this as close to instantly as possible. PWO shake components: 60-80g of carbs, regardless of bodyweight up to 200 lbs.Use either glucose powder, fast-acting maltodextrin, or mashed potatoes, especially after intense workouts. 2) 30g of whey or soy protein. Whey IS better protein than soy, and it’s the same price or cheaper. 3) Fats: No fats in the PWO shake or at all until more than 30 minutes post-workout. Coconut oil for this if you must have the fat. After this PWO shake, get back to regular eating! Eat every 30 to 60 minutes for at least 2 hours after this Drink a lot of water with your meal carbs and protein. You are always aiming to make a ~6%-12% solution, so that your body stays well hydrated and the stomach empties fairly rapidly. Fats don’t mix with water, so we don’t calculate them into this. 20-30g protein every 2-3 hours is perfect. The more vegetables, the better. You will pee a lot, most likely, and that is good. If you are not fully hydrated, you will not see anywhere near as much protein synthesis, and that means your results won’t be as good as they should be if you aren’t fully hydrated and peeing nearly clear. Please pay attention to the sodium guidelines, unless you have hyperaldosteronism. Electrolyte balance is a part of proper hydration, and failure to pay attention to this can cause serious problems or death.